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World Cup 2014: Your guide to Group D - Uruguay; England; Costa Rica; Italy

The lowdown on all of the teams in Group D

Richard Holt
Friday 06 December 2013 18:36 GMT
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Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez celebrate after the former scores for Uruguay
Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez celebrate after the former scores for Uruguay

Fixtures (times BST):

June 14 Fortaleza, 2000: Uruguay v Costa Rica

June 15 Manaus, 0200: England v Italy

June 19 Sao Paulo, 2000: Uruguay v England

June 20 Recife, 1700: Italy v Costa Rica

June 24 Natal, 1700: Italy v Uruguay

June 24 Belo Horizonte, 1700: Costa Rica v England

Uruguay

How they qualified

Beat Jordan in play off

Key player

Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint Germain)

Dangerman

Luis Suarez (Liverpool)

World Cup best

Winners 1930 and 1950

Premier League interest

Diego Lugano (West Brom), Gaston Ramirez (Southampton), Suarez (Liverpool) and a certain Diego Forlan.

WORLD CUP 2014 INTERACTIVE GUIDE: The groups, fixtures, route to the final, venues and past winners

Costa Rica

How they qualified

Runners up in the Concacaf Fourth Round behind United States.

Key player

Bryan Ruiz (Fulham)- The creative talent of Ruiz has been evident for a number of years in the Premier League. He’ll be the main attacking threat for Costa Rica throughout the course of the tournament.

Dangerman

Joel Campbell (Arsenal, on loan at Olympiakos)- Campbell has been in fine form since his summer arrival at Olympiacos, scoring 5 goals in 12 appearances. His playing style has drawn comparisons to Costa Rica legend Paulo Wanchope.

World Cup best

Will be playing in their fourth World Cup finals, their best finish was the last 16 in 1990.</b><br/>

Premier League interest

Everton defender Bryan Oviedo, Ruiz, plus Campbell – although he has not yet played for the Gunners, only being granted a work-permit for England during the summer.

Most expensive?

Ruiz - £6m. from FC Twente to Fulham, 2011

England

How they qualified

Unbeaten winners of Uefa Group H, finishing ahead of Ukraine.

Key player

Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)- The England forward is enjoying his best form at club level in recent years and he’ll be looking to open his World Cup finals account in Brazil.

Dangerman

Andros Townsend (Tottenham) – The direct winger was a breath of fresh air in his debut for his country and has continued his phenomenal start to his international career.

World Cup best

Winners - 1966

Premier League interest

All – except Fraser Forster who plays for Scottish league champions Celtic.

Most expensive

Andy Carroll – £35m from Newcastle to Liverpool, 2011

Italy

How they qualified

Won the Uefa Group B, finishing the qualification stage unbeaten.

Key player

Andrea Pirlo (Juventus)- The evergreen Pirlo continues to demonstrate his ability in Serie A. If Italy are to thrive, his ability to dictate the tempo of a match must take centre stage.

Dangerman

Mario Balotelli (Milan)- The enigma that is Balotelli will be a handful for any defence, as well as the media. The striker has been on fire in front of goal since his arrival at Milan.

World Cup best

Four-time winners, most recently in 2006. Only Brazil have won the World Cup more.

Premier League interest

Southampton’s Dani Osvaldo, Sunderland’s Emanuele Giaccherini, plus possibly Newcastle’s Davide Santon. Alberto Aquilani, Giuseppe Rossi, and, of course, Balotelli have played in the English top flight.

Most expensive

Gianluigi Buffon – £32.6m from Parma to Juventus, 2001

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